A typical rack mount data storage system includes a cabinet frame (or rack), a set of housings, a set of front panels, disk drives and related circuitry. The housings and the front panels mount to the cabinet frame. The disk drives and the related circuitry reside (i) within the housings and (ii) behind the front panels.
One conventional front panel has a two-tier design, i.e., a lower tier and an upper tier, and is configured to cover a horizontal row of disk drives adjacent a front opening of a respective housing which is mounted to the cabinet frame. The lower tier sits substantially adjacent the front opening and defines a horizontal row of holes which aligns with a horizontal row of light emitting diodes (LEDs) of the row of disk drives. The upper tier extends outwardly from the front opening by roughly one or two inches in a bowed manner, and defines a space which conceals a locking and releasing mechanism. A front panel which is similar to that described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,057, entitled “ELECTRONIC CABINET PANEL WITH IMPROVED LATCHING MECHANISM”, the entire teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
During operation of the rack mount data storage system, air passes through ducts of the front panels to provide cooling to the disk drives and the related circuitry. Additionally, light from rows of disk drive LEDs passes through the front panels for direct visual viewing by a user. In particular, an average height user standing approximately two feet away from the front of the system is capable of directly viewing disk drive LEDs through front panels at the top of the system with little or no head movement. The user is further capable of directly viewing disk drive LEDs through front panels at the bottom of the system by either (i) crouching (e.g., bending over or squatting) while standing approximately two feet away from the front of the system, or (ii) stepping further back from the system (e.g., to a location that is six feet away or more) to prevent the upper tiers of these front panels from obscuring respective rows of disk drive LEDs.